Prologue

Almost a year to the day I left Brisbane to ride my BMW R1200GSA to Broome, Western Australia via Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. I was between contracts and had five weeks to prepare the bike, my gear and get there (see Brisbane to Broome on HU).

I spent ten months in Derby, north of Broome and completed my contract. During the winter months, the dry season, I was fortunate enough to get out and about in the Kimberley along the Gibb River Road, a remote and iconic 4WD destination in Australia that the modern world is slowly catching onto.

The ‘Gibb’ is 600kms long travelling through the heart of the Kimberley, displaying numerous gorges and waterfalls. The first 100kms from Derby is a narrow bitumen strip, but then becomes dirt just before the turnoff to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. The rest is varying grades of rough, gravelly, corrugated and rocky road, punctuated with river crossings.

I used this place as a bit of a playground for a couple of reasons. I don’t have a lot of experience on dirt, and extremely little on Ziggy, my BMW 1200 GS Adventure so this was the perfect place to try out techniques and skills gained at a two-day BMW offroad course I had squeezed into my time in Brisbane.

Over the last 10mths I’ve tackled a variety of surfaces and ridden regularly between Broome and Derby, eventually clocking up another 10,000kms. I’ve put the big girl – Ziggy – well and truly through her paces and have decided without a doubt this is the right bike for me to take on a trip around the world that I’ve been planning for the last 18mths.

During my time in Derby I have completely redesigned the gear I am taking and have opted for soft luggage, a Giant Loop Great Basin – the older model 50L bag, and a 49L Ortlieb waterproof Rack Pack. I’m still looking for a suitable tankbag but it will probably be around the 15L. So 114L of space to fit everything I need for the next three years through all climates and five continents.

I’ve taken many leaves out of the ultralight cyclist and walking books and have made some spectacular weight reductions without loss of functional items. I looked very critically at what I REALLY needed, giving preference to things that had two or more uses. I reduced the weight from 55kgs to under 20kgs. Once my blog is running I’ll display the comparative lists.

Of course, doing this at the opposite end of your own continent means you have to return the heavy gear back, so I sent some post bags to Brisbane, but I am still carrying the hard panniers and a bunch of other gear, so this is not going to be a lightweight trip.

Some pictures of The Kimberley to whet your appetite.